This Can't Be the End
by Lestatmalfoy
Summary: When Harry dies, Ron and Hermione are left to deal, and one of them just can't.  written pre-DH  Not sure if this is a One-Shot or something I'll add more to.


Notes: This is post-Hogwarts...slightly darkfic, kinda sad. I'm not sure if there will be more to this or not. I actually haven't written fanfic in a few years.  
>Disclaimer: JKR owns all characters and anything HP related.<p>

"Don't ask me to walk away."

"What am I supposed to tell you? We can't do this anymore."

"What's stopping us?"

"Everything," she whispered, "Everything is stopping us, Ron."

"What? Nothing is stopping us. I love you. What can stop that?"

Hermione looked up at him and gave a bittersweet smile. "It was good while it lasted, but it can't go on anymore."

"Hermione, there has to be another way. This can't be the end of us." Ron looked at her, his blue eyes pleading. She stared into their depths and stroked the side of his face with her hand, which he instantly leaned into.

After a few moments Hermione dropped her hand and Ron looked as if his world had fallen along with it. He stared at it as Hermione sighed.

"Look everything's different now…"

"Do you still love me?"

Hermione remained silent and bowed her head so he couldn't look her in her eyes; for he'd see his answer there. He reached over to her and lifted her face up to look at him, but she averted her eyes, staring at his forehead. There were tears glistening in her eyes as he waited for her to answer him.

"Ron…"

"Hermione," he said firmly, "Love that is true can't end like this. 'Cause true love hurts sometimes, it can slice through the heart. It's hard, but it's always worth it in the end. It always saves us, it always has. Do you think a love like ours comes along every day? We can't give up on it. I don't see why we should. Give me one good reason why, ONE GOOD REASON!"

"Harry," she whispered.

Ron looked away from her then, but not before she could see the hurt in his eyes. She felt his body tense and she hugged him tightly.

"Harry wouldn't want us to end it because of his death, Hermione."

Hermione began to cry and Ron held her in his arms as she sobbed. Her body shook as the tears flowed from her honey eyes, and Ron felt a tear escape from his own as he patted Hermione's back.

"It wasn't our fault, Hermione. We couldn't have stopped it from happening. Harry did what he wanted to do, and nothing can change that now."

"We never should have let him go," she squeaked.

"We didn't even know he'd gone off to face Voldemort alone! How could we have stopped him?"

"We're his best friends, Ron; we should have known what he would do."

"We were supposed to be mind readers then?" Ron raised his eyebrows.

Hermione sighed as her sobs lessened. "No, but we know Harry better than anyone. It's so obvious to me now; what he was going to do. He closed up on us, like he always does, and he seemed so…different. I knew something had been decided with him, but I didn't know what. Now I see that it should have been so easy. I could have stopped it from happening."

"He fulfilled the prophecy, and now he and Voldemort are dead. Dumbledore said there was almost no way around it." Ron ran his fingers through her hair.

"It just feels weird; living in a world without Harry Potter. He was a part of us, even after you and I became more than friends." Hermione looked up at him.

"I know. You can't imagine how much I wish it had been me who'd died and not Harry." Ron hung his red head and stared at his feet.

"But I can't get over it, Ron. We were…While he was sneaking out to go to Voldemort. We were…and we should have been stopping him. If we had been with him, maybe he would still be here with us," Hermione told him, her voice wavering.

"Hermione, we made love every night. That had nothing to do with it." He looked at her deeply and asked, "Is that why you think we shouldn't be together any longer?"

She shook her head. "It hurts so much, Ron, to see you. I think of Harry every time I look at you. I see us back at Hogwarts as first years and second years…We were so oblivious to death then."

"We were, but Harry wasn't. He never was."

"I know," she said quietly as a silent tear fell down her cheek. "It doesn't change anything though. I still see the three of us in your eyes, and I don't think I can stand that. My heart breaks when I look at you. It breaks when I look in the mirror." Her voice wavered as the tears fell down.

"You don't think I feel the same when I look at you or myself? But we can't stop this, Hermione, its part of grieving. We can't just stop seeing each other; we can't just stop seeing ourselves."

Hermione pushed away from him and whispered, "I can't do it anymore. I'm not sure I'll ever stop this ache inside. I simply can't bear to see you any longer. No matter how much I love you, no matter how much it'll kill me to be away from you, I have to end this."

Ron's voice turned angry and his eyes heated up as he spoke, "Oh, so if you can't solve it, just end it? Get scared and run away from it. Don't think any of the pain will go away the moment I leave, Hermione, because it won't! You'll still be haunted by Harry's ghost, as will I."

"Goodbye, Ron," Hermione said heartbreakingly. "I love you."

And she ran.


End file.
